Boeing, which is racing Airbus for shares of the huge Chinese market for new planes, got a significant boost yesterday with an order for 110 more 737s, 80 of them the new 737 MAX that is just entering production, for China Southern Airlines and a subsidiary.
China’s government aircraft manuracturer and Boeing signed a deal 3 months ago for Boeing to build a final assembly plant in China for 737s. Presumably that plant was a factor in the order and at least some of the planes will be assembled there. When the announcement was made, Boeing said it already had 300 orders from Chinese companies.
China is a key market for the two big plane builders; Boeing estimates that China will need over 6,000 new planes, worth nearly $1 trillion over the next twenty years. The 737 MAX, which competes with Airbus’s A320neo, is an important part of Boeing’s strategy for that market. The orders are good news for Boeing, since the A320neo is a year ahead of it in getting to the runway.
